Objectives
The “la Caixa” Foundation is launching the first edition of its call for proposals for health promotion research projects. The goal of this call is to identify research that advances the design and evaluation of health interventions aimed at health promotion and disease prevention.
Submitted proposals must:
- Adopt an applied approach to relevant health issues
- Use rigorous and validated methodologies
- Related cardiovascular and metabolic diseases
- Incorporate, where appropriate, perspectives from a variety of professionals and research disciplines
- Show a clear path to scalability
The areas of interest for this call for proposals include, among others: mental health, women’s health, child and adolescent health, nutrition and healthy lifestyles, healthy aging, and chronic disease management.
Help
Proposals must fall into one of the following categories:
- Pilot studies: small-scale preliminary studies that assess the feasibility of a larger-scale intervention. They are eligible for grants of up to €80,000. Their maximum duration is 2 years.
- Retrospective evaluations: proposals that assess the effectiveness and impact of existing health interventions. They are eligible for grants of up to €150,000. The maximum duration will be 2 years.
- New Interventions: Proposals that develop and evaluate new health interventions. They are eligible for grants of up to €300,000. The maximum duration will be 3 years.
The three types of proposals may be carried out individually (a single participating research organization) or as part of a consortium (one research organization and up to four collaborating organizations). In addition, all proposals may include participating organizations without an associated budget, such as primary care centers, and nonprofit civil society organizations, such as patient associations. Incorporated companies may not participate in the project as collaborating entities.
A total grant of up to €2,500,000* may be awarded to support the selected projects. The intention is to allocate up to €500,000 for pilot studies, up to €750,000 for retrospective evaluations, and up to €1,250,000 for new interventions, but the final allocation will always depend on the quality and specific characteristics of the projects submitted in response to this call for proposals.
* This amount is subject to final approval by the “la Caixa” Foundation.
The selection criteria for evaluating proposals are those detailed in the call for proposals.
A description of a budget that is appropriate for the activities to be carried out is a factor that is taken into account in the project evaluation process.
Beneficiaries
Applicant Organizations (Host Organizations, HO). Projects led by researchers from nonprofit research organizations located in Spain or Portugal are eligible to apply for this call for proposals.
ProjectLeader(PL). The principal investigator from the applicant organization must also serve as the project leader, who submits the proposal in response to the call for proposals and oversees the overall implementation of the project.
Partner organizations. Any nonprofit organization located in any country in the world that carries out activities related to the project and has an associated budget. Organizations with the same tax ID or VAT number are considered a single organization.
Partners. Each partner organization must designate a primary person responsible for carrying out the project activities within its organization.
Participating organizations. Any organization that carries out project activities, including those mentioned above, whether or not it has an associated budget (for example, primary care centers or similar facilities).
Civil society organizations ( CSOs ). Additionally, both individual projects and research consortia may also include a maximum of 3 non-profit civil society entities whose main activity is not research (for example, patient associations).
Companies. Established companies cannot be members of the project, but they can receive funding as subcontractors.
Overall, the combined budget of all organizations not located in Spain or Portugal may not exceed 30% of the total project budget. In any case,the project in question must be carried out or have been carried out in Spain or Portugal.
Teammembers. All members of the project team must be part of the participating organizations.
Application Criteria
The details of all eligibility criteria and requirements for submitting a proposal for this call for proposals can be found in the call guidelines.
Project Leader: The project’s principal investigator must have completed his or her Ph.D. by the call’s opening date.
Looking ahead, the principal investigators (PIs) of the winning projects in this round of the call for proposals will not be eligible to submit a new proposal as PIs in the next two rounds (pilot studies and retrospective evaluations) or three rounds (new interventions) of the call for proposals.
Projects that involve studies whose results are subject to rights of any kind held by a for-profit entity prior to the application deadline are not eligible. The “la Caixa” Foundation reserves the right to reject proposals that clearly benefit for-profit organizations.
Project Selection
Proposals are selected through a rigorous process that meets standards of quality, impartiality, objectivity, and transparency.
It consists of a formal eligibility phase, a remote review phase (preselection), and an online evaluation phase conducted by committees of experts for each project category.
Call for Applications Guidelines